244: Panzanella

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My panzanella was inspired by Ina Garten’s at Leite’s Culinaria. Generally speaking, I don’t like “mushy bread,” so it was quite a surprise to Michael when I made this, as it involves vinaigrette on bread, which certainly can result in mushy bread.

I started with a really firm loaf that had aged almost to “rock,” which really prevented it from being too mushy, even with the addition of the vinaigrette.

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245: Farmerteen’s Flowers

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This really isn’t about the food so much as Farmerteen’s riot of colour in the flowers at the table. She and Oma bought a bouquet of coloured daisies at the grocers, and then, as they wilted, Farmerteen culled them, cut down the stems, and then organized them into separate bouquets, based on colour.

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246: Leftovers

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Who thought leftovers could be this good?

On this plate, on the bed of lettuce, is sliced starfruit, a fennel-and-cabbage salad (with a cinnamon/cumin sort of “vinaigrette”), and roasted tomatoes, Molly Wizenberg’s Pomodori al Forno, with goat cheese.

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247: Sunset

I think this sunset was enhanced by that volcano eruption in Alaska.

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I’m sorry Alaska is going Pompeii on you, northern neighbors, but it does make for a lovely sunset down here.

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248: Snail Hat

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Have you seen this snail hat before? Poor, homely snail hat. It’s got the lovely snail and all those beautiful lady bug beads . . . and I can’t remember if I wrote about it already or not.

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249: Mystery Breakfast

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Obviously, this breakfast isn’t entirely a mystery. There’s two oranges and a piece of toast.

I’m not real clear on what’s in the eggs, though. Probably kale. And onions. Maybe some cheese.
Could be asparagus.
Or beans.
Or spinach.
It is a mystery.

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250: Tofu and Beans

When you write “tofu and beans” it feels like you’re writing “beans and beans.”

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I thought this was probably Sichuan Tofu and Green Beans, but I went back into the archive, and I see that I made Sichuan Tofu with Bok Choy. I suspect this is a teriyaki tofu with the beans, but who can be sure?

Dude. This is so wrong. I was really headed down the path of becoming a food blog, but I can’t remember what I made, what (if any recipe I used), or even what — with a picture, even — the meal actually was.

I think that’s Kimchee along side. I remember the kimchee not being that great, and us deciding we maybe didn’t really need to eat that again. Good kimchee is good. Bad kimchee . . . is compost.

Update:
Michael informs me that it was Bul Go Gi Tofu . . . which makes the kimchee make a lot more sense . . . Korean-flavoured tofu with Korean side dish . . . ahh, yes, this makes more sense.

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251: Skull Mug

This is Farmerteen, Easter morning, with her skull mug.

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She’s extra happy, because it’s not just a skull mug, but it’s a skull mug full of Butterfingers.

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252: Moose Angel

This moose angel is actually from the winter before last (2007-08).

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Unfortunately, I was right up on it with the tractor before I knew what it was, and I’d all ready run over half of it. If you look carefully, you can see that the moose was lying down, head to the right. You can also see that it was a male moose, because of the very light antler print in the snow. I had no idea that moose lie down on their sides like this. Wild, isn’t it?

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253: Kinder Eir TV Guys

Americans are stupid.

We’re so stupid that our government is working hard to protect us from plastic toys that come in chocolate eggs. See, the toy, according to our government, is “embedded” in the chocolate, so we’re liable to choke on it. So they fine folks 10,000 USD if they are caught sending Kinder Eir to folks here. Nevermind that people all over the globe enjoy these cute little snack/toy combos. Nevermind that the amount of chocolate is rather small, so it’s just a little treat, and not a gazillion calories to pack on. Oh, no. We’re too stupid to break the fragile chocolate egg and eat it separately from the plastic egg that’s rattling around in side it, holding a toy.

That’s how stupid we are.

Anyway, occasionally, some of us make it over the border to somewhere where the children aren’t as addled, and get a few Kinder Eir to snack on, complete with the cute little toys to build.

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These are three of the toys that came in some Kinder Eir I had recently.

Excuse me now, hack, cough, hack, I think I ate the fourth guy.

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